The Secret's in the Brine
Brining the bird is a simple way to enhance both the flavor and moisture. When it comes to brining, you have two choices: wet or dry. There are pros and cons to each depending on how you like your turkey to taste.
Wet VS. Dry
On the pro side, wet brining will give you the juiciest possible turkey, however with all the extra water you won’t get a very crisp skin on the outside. On the dry side, or what is also known as pre-salting, your biggest advantage of dry brine is that you preserve that pure turkey flavor without dilution from water, and the skin gets nice and crispy.
A couple of other tips: It’s best not to stuff a brined turkey, either wet or dry. The stuffing will turn out overly salted because it will have absorbed a good portion of the brine. Also, a dry brined turkey produces fewer pan drippings. To avoid burning your roasting pan, pour 1 to 2 cups of turkey or chicken broth in the pan prior to roasting. When you’re ready to make gravy, taste the pan drippings mixed with the broth first to see how much you can use for the gravy. A dry brined turkey will typically produce less salty drippings than a wet brined turkey.